6 Week Mindfulness Class with a day-long retreat at Pendle Hill

We are looking forward to our second day long retreat following the 6 week class. Join us in becoming more aware of your internal state and achieve greater clarity of mind as you begin your journey towards a more joyful life.

Take a break and stop what you are doing for 10 seconds…How was that? If you took a deep breath and relaxed that was good. If, however, your mind pushed you to complete your list of things to do, or you felt a sense of urgency (even though nothing important was happening) or if it seemed uncomfortable to stop “doing” for 10 seconds, then you will want to read on. In this country we are becoming more stressed, anxious and exhausted. We are often lost in the busyness of our lives and have forgotten to practice our natural ability to slow down and savor the life that is right in front of us in the present moment.

How does slowing down and paying attention to the moment help? Because of the very nature of how our mind works and the frantic pace of living in general, we end up spending a great deal of time in our minds thinking, rehashing the past, planning, and rehearsing. Thinking is a virtual reality that higher form mammals possess and have used to great advantage. Thinking, however, if on autopilot and without direction can take our attention away from the experience of an event that is right in front of us.

Have you ever taken a shower while thinking about what you will do with your day? Planning and thinking the day through and not remembered if you washed your hair or not? That is a small example of how we are not present to our own life. Imagine doing this for most of your day each day. In our frantic lives we can become stuck in the doing mode of the mind moving from one event to another to another without taking the time to savor or enjoy any one moment. Mindfulness gives us the means to regain our moments of joy and pleasure.

Benefits of Mindfulness

• Studies indicate that regular meditators are happier and more contented than average. • Anxiety, depression and irritability all decrease with regular sessions of meditation. • Memory improves. • Reaction times become faster and mental and physical stamina increase. • Regular meditators have more fulfilling relationships. • Studies found that meditation reduces key indicators for chronic stress and hypertension. • Meditation has also been found to be effective in reducing the impact of serious conditions, such as chronic pain and can even help relieve drug and alcohol dependence. • Studies have also shown that meditation bolsters the immune system.

MSAM™ Guided Meditations

The 10 to 30 minute “guided meditations” below will help you practice mindfulness meditation. They are provided under a creative commons license which means you can download and distribute them non-commercially so long as you credit the original sources when doing so.